Almost Twenty Years
by LukeandLorelai4ever47
Summary: Mary and Marshall went down different roads, what happens twenty years later?
1. Chapter 1

_It could have been when Marshall met Sarah, a teacher from a local elementary school. It could have been when he asked Sarah to marry him. But I don't think it was either of those things. One event, and one event only, was the reason for the years of silence. _

_It was the moment when Mary had realized that Marshall was the one person who had always been there for her, no matter the situation. He was the one who had hunted down the man who had nearly killed her and put his sorry ass in jail. He was the one who sat by her bedside for five days straight as she lay in a coma. He was the one who had agreed to be the witness for her wedding at city hall. _

_He was the one._

_She wasn't exactly sure if she was in love with him, but she was certain she wasn't in love with Raph. _

_Not enough to pledge herself to him for life. Not if she had a chance with Marshall._

_But she was too late. He was already taken. In the six months since her shooting, he had met, proposed to, and eloped with Sarah. _

_It was impulsive and very un-Marshall like behavior. She had questioned him about, even demanded to know why he had rushed into things._

_He simply said, "I wanted to be happy. I haven't been happy in a really long time."_

"_But do you love her? I mean really love her? I know you Marshall and if this girl isn't your soul mate, then you shouldn't be with her. You are the kind of person who will really regret it later."_

_He replied, "I had a soul mate once, but she choose someone else. I accepted that a long time ago. She's moved on and now it's time for me to move on. This is how it's supposed to be Mary. And I won't regret it. Because my supposed "soul mate" has only caused me pain. She comes and goes as she pleases. She doesn't know how to be happy and she would rather marry someone who's safe, who she can really live without. I finally realized that she's never going to change. And I wouldn't really want her to. I love everything about her and if she changed, it wouldn't be her anymore."_

"_Raph thinks we should move. I didn't want to at first. Now I'm not so sure." she said bluntly, attempting to mask her overwhelming pain._

_He skipped a breath and paused before responding. "Where will you go?"_

"_He was thinking about Los Angeles. He has some cousins that moved there a few years ago and I could get set up in the Marshall's office pretty easily."_

_He turned to face her. "I wish you all the happiness in the world Mary. I really do. I've never wanted to see you unhappy. I know that you want the same thing for me."_

_She paused. This wasn't what she wanted at all. In that moment, she knew that he was what she wanted more than anything. She would have gladly given up everything to be with him. _

_But this was what he wanted. She could tell by the look in his eyes, he was genuinely happy._

_She couldn't destroy that._

_So she hugged him, walked to her desk, collected her things, and walked out the door. _

_That was twenty years ago._


	2. Chapter 2

"Yeah, no problem, I'll be sure that someone's waiting to meet him at the train station." Stan McQueen said as he sat with his feet propped up on the desk. Gray hair was now abundant on every strand that remained on his head.

"Hey, Daniel, I need you to head over to the train station. We got a new witness coming in from Jersey this morning."

"No problem boss." Daniel quickly gathered up his jacket and keys. He headed out the door with barely another word.

Stan sighed deeply. Even after all this time, the job just wasn't the same. He had worked with dozens of Marshall's, but without a doubt Mary Shannon and Marshall Mann had been his favorite. They had worked so well together, but life had torn them apart. Shortly after Mary left, Marshall too had decided that it was time to graduate to a lower risk job.

He turned to face a graying woman huddled next to a computer monitor.

"Eleanor, what has Daniel got you working on now?"

"This isn't work. It's personal." She replied.

"Is it Mary?" he asked excitedly. Over the years since her departure, she had e-mailed occasionally and even phoned once, just to check in.

She smiled, "It sure is. It's her first e-mail in months. And she's got some surprising news."

"What's that?"

"She's coming back to Albuquerque."

"You're kidding. I didn't think I'd live to see the day."

"Neither did I. It says here that she'll be in town next week, it might only be for a couple of days though." She paused. "Should we tell him?"

"There are no bitter feelings between them. They both just had different paths in life."

"You really believe that don't you?"

"Why shouldn't I believe it? It's true. They both got married. Mary moved and Marshall didn't want to work here anymore. It's pretty simple."

"Yeah. That's why Mary moved to a different state after Marshall got married. That's why Marshall looked like he wanted to cry every time he came into the office and looked at her empty desk. Sometimes you scare me."

"On second thought, maybe we shouldn't tell him."

"She say's Raph's not coming."

Stan slowly raised his eyebrows, "Really? That's interesting. Very interesting."

"There's one other thing that might present a small problem."

"What's that?"

"Mary doesn't know about Rory."

"Yeah. That might be a small issue."

"I'm pretty sure when you're ex-partner has a daughter and doesn't tell you, it's more than a small issue."


End file.
